Analysis of dye extracted fromPhellodendronbark and its identification in archaeological textiles

Abstract

Methanol extractions of 20 archaeological textiles excavated from burial sites in Korea were examined in comparison to standard natural dyes, freshly dyed silk, and naturally-aged dyed silks for the purpose of identifying archaeological textiles dyed with yellow dye from the Phellodendron bark. Phellodendron bark dye was identified by the presence of both berberine and palmatine using the retention times of HPLC-DAD chromatograms and mass spectral data generated from the electrospray ionization (ESI) source. Extracted ion chromatograms (EIC) were used to quantify the concentration of berberine and palmatine in each sample. The results indicated that three of the 20 archaeological textile samples were dyed with Phellodendron bark based on the significant amount of berberine and palmatine detected in these samples, while twelve samples were determined not to have been dyed with natural dyes from Phellodendron bark. Identification of dye in these textiles would allow for appropriate conservation procedures to avoid further dye loss.

Thermal degradation of natural dyes and their analysis using HPLC-DAD-MS

“…The more the intact dye molecules survive, the more the original color will be preserved. Museum textiles which were recovered from burial excavations of Korea, in most cases, look tan in color with complete loss of original hue (Ahn et al, 2012;Ahn et al, 2014;Park, 1996). It is highly probable that the tan color of these textiles were due to the loss of a great amount of dye molecules while the textiles were in burial and also after they were excavated.…”

Simultaneous Analysis of the Coloring Compounds in Indigo, Phellodendron bark, and Madder Dye Using HPLC-DAD-MS

“…Mantzouris et al (2011) identified alizarin, carminic acid, or fustic from the 16-20th century textiles from Greece. Ahn et al (2012) identified berberine and palmatine from the textiles of the 17th century Chosun Dynasty of Korea. Petroviciu et al (2012) identified indigotin from the 19th century textiles from Kilim and alizarin, purpurin from the 16th century red silk thread from historic collections of Romania.…”

High-performance liquid chromatography-diode array detector-mass selective detector analysis of major natural dyes with the application of H2O2/ultraviolet treatment as a way to simulate burial degradation of textiles

“…3 This is primarily due to the chemical degradation of dye within the burial environment, which results in the loss of dye and possibly staining from the microenvironment formed by soil and cadavers. 3,4 In a very few excavations of the 18th century burials of Korea, it was observed that a tint of scarlet or blue color was visible as the silk textiles were excavated and exposed to open air. 5 The color immediately disappeared on site or it disappeared as the textiles were transported and were housed in the museum conservation department.…”

“…The HPLC-DAD-MS instrument has been used successfully in the analysis of dyes in historic textiles. 3,[19][20][21][22] Phellodendron bark, madder, and indigo were the most representative dyestuffs of the past to impart yellow, red, and blue color in textiles. Record of their usage as dye materials can be found in historic references, such as Ben Cao Gang Mu, 23 that originate from China in the 16th century.…”